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After Elliott Management disclosed its built an economic exposure of 8.3% in The Advisory Board and said it will seek talks, Raymond James analyst Nicholas Jansen said the involvement of the activist investor is "intriguing" and could potentially drive positive change. However, Jansen sees Advisory Board's end-market challenges being exacerbated by competitive issues and prefers more visibility on revenues "before getting incrementally more excited" and keeps a Market Perform rating on the stock, which is up about 13.5% in morning trading.

ABCOThe Advisory Board

$36.15

0.85 (2.41%)

11/07/16

BOFA

11/07/16DOWNGRADEBOFAUnderperform

The Advisory Board downgraded to Underperform from Buy at BofA/Merrill

11/07/16

BOFA

11/07/16DOWNGRADETarget $36BOFAUnderperform

The Advisory Board downgraded to Underperform on capex softness at BofA/Merrill

As previously reported, BofA/Merrill downgraded The Advisory Board to Underperform from Buy and lowered its price target to $36 from $48. Analyst Steven Valiquette said the firm's hospital survey indicates hospital customer capex softness will extend further into 2017 given reimbursement challenges. The analyst said The Advisory Board results suggest there is a "bit" of a slowdown in purchasing decisions by its core hospital/health system customers which he expects to persist over the next few years, limiting growth.

Piper Jaffray analyst Sean Wieland believes The Advisory Board's lowered outlook tonight should not come as a surprise to investors. The reduced outlook reflects the exiting of less profitable healthcare products as well as pressure on contract renewal driven by post-election uncertainty, Wieland tells investors in a research note. He views Advisory Board's restructuring as in line with the way the company has always operated. The analyst reiterates an Overweight rating on the shares with a $47 price target.

01/05/17

ADAM

01/05/17NO CHANGETarget $36ADAMBuy

The Advisory Board price target lowered to $36 from $45 at Canaccord

Canaccord analyst Richard Close lowered his price target on The Advisory Board to $36 from $45 after the company announced a poor end to the 2016 selling season. The company preannounced lower preliminary 2016 results and lowered 2017 guidance. Close maintained his Buy rating on The Advisory Board as he believes the shares have already priced in negative sentiment.

Snap Inc. (SNAP) is banning ads of initial coin offerings in its Snapchat app, Cheddar reports, citing a company spokesperson. The decision makes Snapchat the latest social media platform to prohibit advertisements for cryptocurrency ICOs, the report says. In contrast to Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG), however, Snap's current block of ICOs has been in effect since early February and does not apply to different kinds of cryptocurrency ads, the report says. Reference Link

Airbus (EADSY) is mulling making a freighter version of its slow-selling A330neo widebody, spurred by requests from potential customers Amazon (AMZN) and UPS (UPS), Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The interest from Amazon and UPS could incite a competition between Airbus and rival Boeing (BA) as the worldwide air-cargo market rebounds from a slump, the report notes.

Facebook's chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, will leave the company after internal disagreements over how the social network should deal with its role in spreading disinformation, The New York Times reports, citing current and former employees briefed on the matter. Reference Link

Amazon has considered the possibility of expanding its retail footprint by acquiring some stores from bankrupt Toys 'R' Us, Bloomberg reports, citing people with knowledge of the situation. The e-commerce giant is not interested in maintaining the Toys 'R' Us brand, but has mulled using the soon-to-be-vacant stores for its own purposes, the report says. Reference Link

President Trump is readying to place a package of $60B in annual tariffs against China, following through on a long-time threat that he claims will punish China for IP infringement and create more jobs in the U.S., the Washington Post reports. The tariff package, which the president intends to unveil by the end of the week, was confirmed by four senior administration officials, the report notes. Senior aides has presented Trump with a $30B tariff package that would apply to a variety of products, but the president directed them to approximately double the amount of new trade levies, the report says. The package could be applied to over 100 products, which the president contends were made by using trade secrets that the Chinese stole from U.S. companies or forced them to hand over in exchange for market aces, the report says. Reference Link